Monday, June 6, 2016

GaragePointer Wants To Be Airbnb for Cars

–

For many car enthusiasts, the desire for a collector car (or for another collector car) is held in check not by insufficient funds or spousal disapproval but by a lack of garage space. And yet—incredibly—there is garage space out there that’s going unused. A new startup seeks to remedy this cosmic imbalance by pairing shelter-seeking car owners with garage owners who could use some extra scratch. GaragePointer.com, in other words, wants to be the Airbnb of cars.

–

–

The nascent peer-to-peer rental service is just getting started in California, Oregon, and Washington, but plans to roll out nationwide within the next two months. In addition to pre-screening both the renter and the garage owner, it eventually will offer both parties insurance as well. Those elements would help give GaragePointer an advantage over a simple Craigslist ad. Pricing would be worked out between the two parties, with GaragePointer taking a $20 flat fee.

–

The service would not be restricted to collector cars—any garage-seeking car owner would be welcome—but collector cars are expected to be a primary market, particularly given that most collector-car insurance policies require that the car be garaged.

Some might point out the security risk of giving a stranger access to your garage, but the notion of having strangers in your actual living space doesn’t seem to have hindered Airbnb. Besides, many garages are not attached but are detached, and condo or apartment buildings are expected to be another major source of supply. GaragePointer could alleviate the car-storage problem—but if you’re facing either of the other two impediments, well, addressing them is up to you.